Wisconsin State Universities: Purpose, and Exercise of Authority over Students.

Witmer, David R.

Using extensive legal documentation, including general laws, the Wisconsin and Federal Constitution, court cases, and legislation, this paper discusses the authority and purpose of the Wisconsin State Universities, how this authority is exerted over students, and whether these acts of authority are legal and conform with the stated purposes. Specifically, the paper examines the establishment of Wisconsin normal schools and departments, the legislative delineation of the primary purposes and objects of the State Universities, the Board of Regents regulations over students in terms of admission, fees and tuition, curricula, and graduation requirements, court decisions that sustain the authority of colleges and universities to establish curricula and set degree requirements, rules establishing college authority over extracurricular and cocurricular activities of students, court decisions that hold that in loco parentis no longer applies to state universities, and the exercise of institutional authority through the control of parking space and other physical facilities. (AF)